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Sunday, 7 August 2022

Single-stock ETFs aren’t sitting well with investment advisers + Users aren’t exactly flooding into Netflix video game space

Single-stock ETFs launched last month, and investment advisers are already wary, calling them a “recipe for disaster,” Bloomberg reports. A single-stock ETF tracks the performance of one particular stock as opposed to following the highs and lows of an index with traditional ETFs, and delivers the factor of each stock’s performance (which can be, for example, the inverse of the performance — the ETF rises when the stock falls — or double the percent change). Because it tracks a single stock, the gain or loss is tied to the performance of that single company, making it substantially riskier in a volatile market, analysts and regulators say. Single-stock ETFs also aren’t necessarily reflective of the stocks’ real performance, as their performance is tracked on a day-to-day basis, creating a misleading base effect. Returns over a longer period of time might be significantly lower than investors expect, especially in a fluctuating market, SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw tells Bloomberg. The worry now is that their potential high gains in a turbulent market might drive an increase in speculative investing by amateur retail investors in these risky assets.

Don’t pamper the juniors: A pandemic-fueled change in younger staffers’ behavior in the workplace has given rise to a general sense of indifference among young employees, the Financial Times writes. Young workers at the workplace are increasingly choosing to work remotely during client visits and being heedless during important internal meetings online, among other issues that have cropped up as a result of long stretches of isolation. Generational researcher Eliza Filby suggests the best way for employers to handle younger staffers is to ensure that they are well-trained but put their foot down on some demands: “You’re not actually helping them through life” by indulging their every whim, she says.

Netflix is amping its gaming presence — but for who? The biggest streaming platform in the world is aiming to double its gaming portfolio by year end to reach 50 games, but so far its gaming endeavors have failed to draw in users, CNBC writes. Of Netflix’s 221 mn subscribers, less than 1% — 1.7 mn users — have been playing the games daily. Netflix’s dive into mobile games comes as the service struggles to keep users, the streaming platform lost more than 1 mn subscribers q-o-q in 2Q 2022 and announced job cuts as rivals gain ground. The company currently offers games based on its series Stranger Things and adaptations of classics like solitaire.

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